Clean up consts (noted by Joerg Sonnenberger and Ulrich Sporlein).

[mandoc.git] / man.7

diff --git a/man.7 b/man.7
index fa473867a37806edd413098f260726710cf2d912..c0f93cd5c6ffa0c1cf5e10a6b6ca30618a16160e 100644 (file)
--- a/man.7
+++ b/man.7
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-.\"    $Id: man.7,v 1.13 2009/06/16 19:13:28 kristaps Exp $
+.\"    $Id: man.7,v 1.37 2009/09/05 10:37:09 kristaps Exp $

 .\"
 .\" Copyright (c) 2009 Kristaps Dzonsons <kristaps@kth.se>
 .\"
 .\"
 .\" Copyright (c) 2009 Kristaps Dzonsons <kristaps@kth.se>
 .\"


@@ -14,34 +14,39 @@
 .\" ACTION OF CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE OR OTHER TORTIOUS ACTION, ARISING OUT OF
 .\" OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THIS SOFTWARE.
 .\"
 .\" ACTION OF CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE OR OTHER TORTIOUS ACTION, ARISING OUT OF
 .\" OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THIS SOFTWARE.
 .\"

-.Dd $Mdocdate: June 16 2009 $
+.Dd $Mdocdate: September 5 2009 $

 .Dt MAN 7
 .Os
 .Dt MAN 7
 .Os

-.\" SECTION
+.
+.

 .Sh NAME
 .Nm man
 .Nd man language reference
 .Sh NAME
 .Nm man
 .Nd man language reference

-.\" SECTION
+.
+.

 .Sh DESCRIPTION
 The
 .Nm man
 .Sh DESCRIPTION
 The
 .Nm man

-language was historically used to format 
+language was historically used to format

 .Ux
 .Ux

-manuals.  This reference document describes the syntax and structure of
-this language.
+manuals.  This reference document describes its syntax, structure, and
+usage.
+.

 .Pp
 .Pp

-.Em \&Do not
-use 
+.Bf -emphasis
+Do not use

 .Nm
 .Nm

-to write your manuals.  Use the
+to write your manuals.
+.Ef
+Use the

 .Xr mdoc 7
 language, instead.
 .Xr mdoc 7
 language, instead.

-.\" PARAGRAPH
+.

 .Pp
 An
 .Nm
 document follows simple rules:  lines beginning with the control
 .Pp
 An
 .Nm
 document follows simple rules:  lines beginning with the control

-character 
+character

 .Sq \&.
 are parsed for macros.  Other lines are interpreted within the scope of
 prior macros:
 .Sq \&.
 are parsed for macros.  Other lines are interpreted within the scope of
 prior macros:


@@ -49,19 +54,19 @@ prior macros:
 \&.SH Macro lines change control state.
 Other lines are interpreted within the current state.
 .Ed
 \&.SH Macro lines change control state.
 Other lines are interpreted within the current state.
 .Ed

-.\" SECTION
+.
+.

 .Sh INPUT ENCODING
 .Nm
 .Sh INPUT ENCODING
 .Nm

-documents may contain only graphable 7-bit ASCII characters and the
-space character
-.Sq \  .
-All manuals must have
+documents may contain only graphable 7-bit ASCII characters, the
+space character, and the tabs character.  All manuals must have

 .Ux
 .Ux

-.Sq \en
-line termination.  
+line termination.
+.

 .Pp
 Blank lines are acceptable; where found, the output will assert a
 vertical space.
 .Pp
 Blank lines are acceptable; where found, the output will assert a
 vertical space.

+.

 .Pp
 The
 .Sq \ec
 .Pp
 The
 .Sq \ec


@@ -69,145 +74,468 @@ escape is common in historical
 .Nm
 documents; if encountered at the end of a word, it ensures that the
 subsequent word isn't off-set by whitespace.
 .Nm
 documents; if encountered at the end of a word, it ensures that the
 subsequent word isn't off-set by whitespace.

-.\" SUB-SECTION
+.
+.

 .Ss Comments
 .Ss Comments

-Anything following a
-.Sq \e" 
-delimiter is considered a comment (unless the 
-.Sq \e
-itself has been escaped) and is ignored to the end of line.
-Furthermore, a macro line with only a control character
-.Sq \. ,
-optionally followed by whitespace, is ignored.
-.\" SUB-SECTION
+Text following a
+.Sq \e\*" ,
+whether in a macro or free-form text line, is ignored to the end of
+line.  A macro line with only a control character and comment escape,
+.Sq \&.\e" ,
+is also ignored.  Macro lines with only a control charater and
+optionally whitespace are stripped from input.
+.
+.

 .Ss Special Characters
 .Ss Special Characters

-Special character sequences begin with the escape character
+Special characters may occur in both macro and free-form lines.
+Sequences begin with the escape character

 .Sq \e
 .Sq \e

-followed by either an open-parenthesis 
+followed by either an open-parenthesis

 .Sq \&(
 for two-character sequences; an open-bracket
 .Sq \&[
 for n-character sequences (terminated at a close-bracket
 .Sq \&] ) ;
 .Sq \&(
 for two-character sequences; an open-bracket
 .Sq \&[
 for n-character sequences (terminated at a close-bracket
 .Sq \&] ) ;

-or a single one-character sequence.
+or a single one-character sequence.  See
+.Xr mandoc_char 7
+for a complete list.  Examples include
+.Sq \e(em
+.Pq em-dash
+and
+.Sq \ee
+.Pq back-slash .
+.
+.
+.Ss Text Decoration
+Terms may be text-decorated using the
+.Sq \ef
+escape followed by an indicator: B (bold), I, (italic), or P and R
+(Roman, or reset).
+.
+.
+.Ss Whitespace
+Unless specifically escaped, consecutive blocks of whitespace are pruned
+from input.  These are later re-added, if applicable, by a front-end
+utility such as
+.Xr mandoc 1 .
+.
+.
+.Sh MANUAL STRUCTURE
+Each
+.Nm
+document must contain contains at least the
+.Sq TH
+macro describing the document's section and title.  It may occur
+anywhere in the document, although conventionally, it appears as the
+first macro.
+.

 .Pp
 .Pp

-Characters may alternatively be escaped by a slash-asterisk,
-.Sq \e* ,
-with the same combinations as described above.  This form is deprecated.  
-.\" SECTION
-.Sh STRUCTURE
+Beyond
+.Sq TH ,
+at least one macro or text node must appear in the document.  Documents
+are generally structured as follows:
+.Bd -literal -offset indent
+\&.TH FOO 1 "13 Aug 2009"
+\&.
+\&.SH NAME
+\efBfoo\efR \e(en a description goes here
+\&.\e\*q The next is for sections 2 & 3 only.
+\&.\e\*q .SH LIBRARY
+\&.
+\&.SH SYNOPSIS
+\efBfoo\efR [\efB\e-options\efR] arguments...
+\&.
+\&.SH DESCRIPTION
+The \efBfoo\efR utility processes files...
+\&.
+\&.\e\*q .SH IMPLEMENTATION NOTES
+\&.\e\*q The next is for sections 1 & 8 only.
+\&.\e\*q .SH EXIT STATUS
+\&.\e\*q The next is for sections 2, 3, & 9 only.
+\&.\e\*q .SH RETURN VALUES
+\&.\e\*q The next is for sections 1, 6, 7, & 8 only.
+\&.\e\*q .SH ENVIRONMENT
+\&.\e\*q .SH FILES
+\&.\e\*q .SH EXAMPLES
+\&.\e\*q The next is for sections 1, 4, 6, 7, & 8 only.
+\&.\e\*q .SH DIAGNOSTICS
+\&.\e\*q The next is for sections 2, 3, & 9 only.
+\&.\e\*q .SH ERRORS
+\&.\e\*q .SH SEE ALSO
+\&.\e\*q \efBbar\efR(1)
+\&.\e\*q .SH STANDARDS
+\&.\e\*q .SH HISTORY
+\&.\e\*q .SH AUTHORS
+\&.\e\*q .SH CAVEATS
+\&.\e\*q .SH BUGS
+\&.\e\*q .SH SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS
+.Ed
+.
+.
+.Sh MACRO SYNTAX

 Macros are one to three three characters in length and begin with a
 control character ,
 .Sq \&. ,
 at the beginning of the line.  An arbitrary amount of whitespace may
 sit between the control character and the macro name.  Thus,
 Macros are one to three three characters in length and begin with a
 control character ,
 .Sq \&. ,
 at the beginning of the line.  An arbitrary amount of whitespace may
 sit between the control character and the macro name.  Thus,

-.Sq \&.PP
+.Sq .PP

 and
 and

-.Sq \&.\ \ \ \&PP
+.Sq \&.\ \ \ PP

 are equivalent.
 are equivalent.

+.

 .Pp
 .Pp

-All 
+The

 .Nm
 .Nm

-macros follow the same structural rules:
+macros are classified by scope: line scope or block scope.  Line
+macros are only scoped to the current line (and, in some situations,
+the subsequent line).  Block macros are scoped to the current line and
+subsequent lines until closed by another block macro.
+.
+.
+.Ss Line Macros
+Line macros are generally scoped to the current line, with the body
+consisting of zero or more arguments.  If a macro is scoped to the next
+line and the line arguments are empty, the next line is used instead,
+else the general syntax is used.  Thus:
+.Bd -literal -offset indent
+\&.I
+foo
+.Ed
+.
+.Pp
+is equivalent to
+.Sq \&.I foo .
+If next-line macros are invoked consecutively, only the last is used.
+If a next-line macro is proceded by a block macro, it is ignored.

 .Bd -literal -offset indent
 .Bd -literal -offset indent

-\&.YO \(lBbody...\(rB 
+\&.YO \(lBbody...\(rB
+\(lBbody...\(rB

 .Ed
 .Ed

+.
+.Pp
+.Bl -column -compact -offset indent "MacroX" "ArgumentsX" "ScopeXXXXX"
+.It Em Macro Ta Em Arguments Ta Em Scope
+.It    B     Ta    n         Ta    next-line
+.It    BI    Ta    n         Ta    current
+.It    BR    Ta    n         Ta    current
+.It    DT    Ta    0         Ta    current
+.It    I     Ta    n         Ta    next-line
+.It    IB    Ta    n         Ta    current
+.It    IR    Ta    n         Ta    current
+.It    R     Ta    n         Ta    next-line
+.It    RB    Ta    n         Ta    current
+.It    RI    Ta    n         Ta    current
+.It    SB    Ta    n         Ta    next-line
+.It    SM    Ta    n         Ta    next-line
+.It    TH    Ta    >1, <6    Ta    current
+.It    UC    Ta    n         Ta    current
+.It    br    Ta    0         Ta    current
+.It    fi    Ta    0         Ta    current
+.It    i     Ta    n         Ta    current
+.It    na    Ta    0         Ta    current
+.It    nf    Ta    0         Ta    current
+.It    r     Ta    0         Ta    current
+.It    sp    Ta    1         Ta    current
+.El
+.

 .Pp
 The
 .Pp
 The

-.Dq body
-consists of zero or more arguments to the macro.
+.Sq RS ,
+.Sq RE ,
+.Sq UC ,
+.Sq br ,
+.Sq fi ,
+.Sq i ,
+.Sq na ,
+.Sq nf ,
+.Sq r ,
+and
+.Sq sp
+macros should not be used.  They're included for compatibility.
+.
+.
+.Ss Block Macros
+Block macros are comprised of a head and body.  Like for in-line macros,
+the head is scoped to the current line and, in one circumstance, the
+next line; the body is scoped to subsequent lines and is closed out by a
+subsequent block macro invocation.
+.Bd -literal -offset indent
+\&.YO \(lBhead...\(rB
+\(lBhead...\(rB
+\(lBbody...\(rB
+.Ed
+.

 .Pp
 .Pp

-.Nm
-has a primitive notion of multi-line scope for the following macros: 
-.Sq \&.TM ,
-.Sq \&.SM ,
-.Sq \&.SB ,
-.Sq \&.BI ,
-.Sq \&.IB ,
-.Sq \&.BR ,
-.Sq \&.RB ,
-.Sq \&.R ,
-.Sq \&.B ,
-.Sq \&.I ,
-.Sq \&.IR 
+The closure of body scope may be to the section, where a macro is closed
+by
+.Sq SH ;
+sub-section, closed by a section or
+.Sq SS ;
+part, closed by a section, sub-section, or
+.Sq RE ;
+or paragraph, closed by a section, sub-section, part, 
+.Sq HP ,
+.Sq IP ,
+.Sq LP ,
+.Sq P ,
+.Sq PP ,
+or
+.Sq TP .
+No closure refers to an explicit block closing macro.
+.
+.Pp
+.Bl -column "MacroX" "ArgumentsX" "Head ScopeX" "sub-sectionX" -compact -offset indent
+.It Em Macro Ta Em Arguments Ta Em Head Scope Ta Em Body Scope
+.It   HP     Ta    <2        Ta    current    Ta    paragraph
+.It   IP     Ta    <3        Ta    current    Ta    paragraph
+.It   LP     Ta    0         Ta    current    Ta    paragraph
+.It   P      Ta    0         Ta    current    Ta    paragraph
+.It   PP     Ta    0         Ta    current    Ta    paragraph
+.It   RE     Ta    0         Ta    current    Ta    none
+.It   RS     Ta    1         Ta    current    Ta    part
+.It   SH     Ta    >0        Ta    next-line  Ta    section
+.It   SS     Ta    >0        Ta    next-line  Ta    sub-section
+.It   TP     Ta    n         Ta    next-line  Ta    paragraph
+.El
+.
+.Pp
+If a block macro is next-line scoped, it may only be followed by in-line
+macros (excluding
+.Sq DT ,
+.Sq TH ,
+.Sq UC ,
+.Sq br ,
+.Sq na ,
+.Sq sp ,
+.Sq nf ,

 and
 and

-.Sq \&.RI .
-When these macros are invoked without arguments, the subsequent line is
-considered a continuation of the macro.  Thus:
-.Bd -literal -offset indent 
-\&.RI 
-foo
+.Sq fi ) .
+.
+.
+.Sh REFERENCE
+This section is a canonical reference to all macros, arranged
+alphabetically.  For the scoping of individual macros, see
+.Sx MACRO SYNTAX .
+.
+.
+.Ss Definitions
+In this reference, a numerical width may be either a standalone natural
+number (such as 3, 4, 10, etc.) or a natural number followed by a width
+multiplier 
+.Qq n ,
+corresponding to the width of the formatted letter n, or
+.Qq m ,
+corresponding to the width of the formatted letter m.  The latter is the
+default, if unspecified.  Thus,
+.Bd -literal -offset indent
+\&.HP 12n

 .Ed
 .Ed

+.

 .Pp
 .Pp

-is equivalent to 
-.Sq \&.RI foo .
-If two consecutive lines exhibit the latter behaviour,
-an error is raised.  Thus, the following is not acceptable:
-.Bd -literal -offset indent 
-\&.RI 
-\&.I 
-Hello, world.
+indicates an offset of 12 
+.Qq n
+.Ns -sized
+letters.
+.
+.
+.Ss Macro Reference
+.Bl -tag -width Ds
+.It B
+Text is rendered in bold face.
+.It BI
+Text is rendered alternately in bold face and italic.  Thus, 
+.Sq .BI this word and that
+causes
+.Sq this
+and
+.Sq and
+to render in bold face, while 
+.Sq word
+and
+.Sq that
+render in italics.  Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output.
+.It BR
+Text is rendered alternately in bold face and roman (the default font).
+Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output.
+.It DT
+Has no effect.  Included for compatibility.
+.It HP
+Begin a paragraph whose initial output line is left-justified, but
+subsequent output lines are indented, with the following syntax:
+.Bd -literal -offset indent
+\&.HP [width]
+.Ed
+.
+.Pp
+If 
+.Va width
+is specified, it's saved for later paragraph left-margins; if
+unspecified, the saved or default width is used.
+.It I
+Text is rendered in italics.
+.It IB
+Text is rendered alternately in italics and bold face.  Whitespace
+between arguments is omitted in output.
+.It IP
+Begin a paragraph with the following syntax:
+.Bd -literal -offset indent
+\&.IP [head [width]]
+.Ed
+.
+.Pp
+This follows the behaviour of the
+.Sq TP
+except for the macro syntax (all arguments on the line, instead of
+having next-line scope).  If
+.Va width
+is specified, it's saved for later paragraph left-margins; if
+unspecified, the saved or default width is used.
+.It IR
+Text is rendered alternately in italics and roman (the default font).
+Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output.
+.It LP, P, PP
+Begin an undecorated paragraph.  The scope of a paragraph is closed by a
+subsequent paragraph, sub-section, section, or end of file.  The saved
+paragraph left-margin width is re-set to the default.
+.It R
+Text is rendered in roman (the default font).
+.It RB
+Text is rendered alternately in roman (the default font) and bold face.
+Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output.
+.It RE
+Explicitly close out the scope of a prior
+.Sq RS .
+.It RI
+Text is rendered alternately in roman (the default font) and italics.
+Whitespace between arguments is omitted in output.
+.It RS
+Begin a part setting the left margin.  The left margin controls the
+offset, following an initial indentation, to un-indented text such as
+that of
+.Sq PP .
+The width may be specified as following:
+.Bd -literal -offset indent
+\&.RS [width]
+.Ed
+.
+.Pp
+If
+.Va width
+is not specified, the saved or default width is used. 
+.It SB
+Text is rendered in small size (one point smaller than the default font)
+bold face.
+.It SH
+Begin a section.  The scope of a section is only closed by another
+section or the end of file.  The paragraph left-margin width is re-set
+to the default.
+.It SM
+Text is rendered in small size (one point smaller than the default
+font).
+.It SS
+Begin a sub-section.  The scope of a sub-section is closed by a
+subsequent sub-section, section, or end of file.  The paragraph
+left-margin width is re-set to the default.
+.It TH
+Sets the title of the manual page with the following syntax:
+.Bd -literal -offset indent
+\&.TH title section [date [source [volume]]]

 .Ed
 .Ed

+.

 .Pp
 .Pp

+At least the 
+.Va title
+and
+.Va section
+arguments must be provided.  The
+.Va date
+argument should be formatted as
+.Qq %b [%d] %Y
+format, described in
+.Xr strptime 3 .

 The
 The

-.Sq \&.TP
-macro is similar, but does not need an empty argument line to trigger
-the behaviour.
-.\" PARAGRAPH
-.Sh MACROS
-This section contains a complete list of all 
-.Nm
-macros and corresponding number of arguments.
-.Pp
-.Bl -column "MacroX" "Arguments" -compact -offset indent
-.It Em Macro Ta Em Arguments
-.It \&.TH    Ta    >1, <6
-.It \&.SH    Ta    >0
-.It \&.SS    Ta    >0
-.It \&.TP    Ta    n
-.It \&.LP    Ta    0
-.It \&.PP    Ta    0
-.It \&.P     Ta    0
-.It \&.IP    Ta    <3
-.It \&.HP    Ta    <2
-.It \&.SM    Ta    n
-.It \&.SB    Ta    n
-.It \&.BI    Ta    n
-.It \&.IB    Ta    n
-.It \&.BR    Ta    n
-.It \&.RB    Ta    n
-.It \&.R     Ta    n
-.It \&.B     Ta    n
-.It \&.I     Ta    n
-.It \&.IR    Ta    n
-.It \&.RI    Ta    n
-.El
+.Va source
+string specifies the organisation providing the utility.  The
+.Va volume
+replaces the default rendered volume as dictated by the manual section.
+.It TP
+Begin a paragraph where the head, if exceeding the indentation width, is
+followed by a newline; if not, the body follows on the same line after a
+buffer to the indentation width.  Subsequent output lines are indented.
+.

 .Pp
 .Pp

-Although not historically part of the
-.Nm
-system, the following macros are also supported:
+The indentation width may be set as follows:
+.Bd -literal -offset indent
+\&.TP [width]
+.Ed
+.

 .Pp
 .Pp

-.Bl -column "MacroX" "Arguments" -compact -offset indent
-.It Em Macro Ta Em Arguments
-.It \&.br    Ta    0
-.It \&.i     Ta    n
+Where
+.Va width
+must be a properly-formed numeric width.  If
+.Va width
+is specified, it's saved for later paragraph left-margins; if
+unspecified, the saved or default width is used.
+.It UC
+Has no effect.  Included for compatibility.
+.It br
+Breaks the current line.  Consecutive invocations have no further effect.
+.It fi
+End literal mode begun by
+.Sq nf .
+.It i
+Italicise arguments.  If no arguments are specified, all subsequent text
+is italicised.
+.It na
+Don't align to the right margin.
+.It nf
+Begin literal mode: all subsequent free-form lines have their end of
+line boundaries preserved.  May be ended by
+.Sq fi .
+.It r
+Fonts and styles (bold face, italics) reset to roman (default font).
+.It sp
+Insert n spaces, where n is the macro's positive numeric argument.  If
+0, this is equivalent to the
+.Sq br
+macro.

 .El
 .El

-.Pp
-These follow the same calling conventions as the above
-.Nm
-macros.
-.\" SECTION
+.
+.
+.Sh COMPATIBILITY
+This section documents compatibility with other roff implementations, at
+this time limited to
+.Xr groff 1 .
+.Bl -hyphen
+.It
+In quoted literals, groff allowed pair-wise double-quotes to produce a
+standalone double-quote in formatted output.  This idiosyncratic
+behaviour is no longer applicable.
+.It
+The
+.Sq sp
+macro does not accept negative numbers.
+.It
+Blocks of whitespace are stripped from both macro and free-form text
+lines (except when in literal mode), while groff would retain whitespace
+in free-form text lines.
+.El
+.
+.

 .Sh SEE ALSO
 .Xr mandoc 1 ,
 .Xr mandoc_char 7
 .Sh SEE ALSO
 .Xr mandoc 1 ,
 .Xr mandoc_char 7

-.\" SECTION
+.
+.

 .Sh AUTHORS
 The
 .Nm
 .Sh AUTHORS
 The
 .Nm

-utility was written by 
+reference was written by

 .An Kristaps Dzonsons Aq kristaps@kth.se .
 .An Kristaps Dzonsons Aq kristaps@kth.se .

-.\" SECTION
+.
+.

 .Sh CAVEATS
 Do not use this language.  Use
 .Xr mdoc 7 ,
 instead.
 .Sh CAVEATS
 Do not use this language.  Use
 .Xr mdoc 7 ,
 instead.

+.